Thursday, July 28, 2011

Barbara E. is the winner of the first two books in theMortal Path series, Dark Time and Sacrifice. Thanks to everyone who commented!

I have a title, I have a title ... Deliverance! Mortal Path #3 is listed online with a release date of March 27, 2012. It's official. My heart went pitty-pat when I saw the listing for the first time, as it did with every other book I've published. What a thrill! :)

I wish I could show you the cover but it's still under wraps, behind those curtains over there. I'll just say it was done by the same artist who did the first two covers in the Mortal Path series, and it's stunning.

This book has been a challenge for me because my personal life went through some bumps while it was being written. I came out of that period fired up and ready to renew my writing life, and I think Deliverance fits the bill! Writers, if you're working on your first book, hang in there! The rewards from completing a book into which you've poured your heart and soul are immense and when you see it published you will absolutely melt. Can you tell I'm happy?

Here's a brief excerpt from Deliverance, a tense confrontation for Maliha.

Maliha Crayne placed her feet carefully on the old clay-tiled roof. Freezing rain made the passage treacherous. Xietai, the man she was chasing, seemed as sure-footed as a gazelle. She had already sent a tile sliding to the street three stories below.

It was three in the morning, and although New York never sleeps, the residents of this neighborhood did. Most of them, anyway. As another tile clattered to the sidewalk, a window was flung open and a woman’s head appeared, her neck twisted to look up at the roof.

“What’s goin’ on up there? Think yer Santa Claus or somethin’? Get off my roof!”

With flat roofs all around, he has to choose one with tiles. Should have gone around and picked up his trail on the other side. Maliha 0, Xietai 1.

Xietai had been in her sights twice before, and he’d eluded her. He ran a human trafficking ring, bringing Asian girls to America, and then sending American girls to Asia. Round-trip profits. Complicating matters was that Xietai was the son of one of Maliha’s dearest friends, Xia Yanmeng. Maliha planned to bring Xietai to justice but with his record of confrontation, it was possible she’d have to kill him.

Maliha came to the end of the tiled roof and paused briefly. Xietai’s footprints led her on into the moonless night. Using her ability to view auras, she could see the outline of his footsteps and the tendrils of red and black twining together, rising from them. Normally she used her aural vision for a few seconds at a time, a quick check to see if someone was lying or to make sure she faced a truly evil person before plunging her sword into him. Constant viewing, as she was doing now to track Xietai, was draining. His aural footprints were clear, but her surroundings were a little out of focus. As long as Xietai kept out of her normal sight, he had an advantage.

She swung over the edge of the roof, hung briefly by one hand, and dropped down to an adjacent flat roof. Landing with a forward roll to break the momentum of the fall, she put out a hand to avoid sliding on the patchy ice. She scraped the side of her hand raw on the rough roofing material. She wasn’t an accomplished traceuse—tracer—so her hands weren’t calloused. The man ahead of her was a highly skilled practitioner of parkour, a method of crossing obstacles in the most efficient way and the shortest time.

She ran barefoot, with loose black shorts, a black t-shirt, a belly bag with a few throwing stars secured inside so they couldn’t shift and hurt her, knives strapped to her thighs, with her thick black hair flowing behind her. It was late November, and an icy rain pelted her face and other exposed skin. Maliha wasn’t prepared for this pursuit, but when Xietai crossed her path, she had to try it.

Maliha jumped to a building a dozen feet away. She rolled, then ran and dropped to the fire escape.

Could he be Ageless?

Her bare feet landed lightly on the fire escape’s icy stairs, and at each landing, she vaulted the railing to the next run of stairs. She dropped the last ten feet to the ground. Thin red wisps spiraled eerily up from slushy puddle he’d passed through. She cleared the puddle in a small hop. Ahead a wall loomed. He’d taken her down a dead-end alley. Using the momentum of her run, she stepped up the brick wall to a balcony, used a spring from the rail to power another couple of steps, and then muscled up to the roof.

No good. Blind corner ...

Anticipating a trap, Maliha threw one of her knives, then ducked and rolled as a sword swung powerfully where her neck should have been. She lashed out with her second knife, scored a deep gash in Xietai’s calf, and felt the splash of hot blood on her hand.

That should slow him down a little.

Xietai took off into the night, running away before she’d come fully out of her roll. She retrieved her thrown knife from where it had landed. Her opponent took them down to street level. She was gratified to see a blood trail in the pale cone of light from a street lamp.

He bleeds too much to be Ageless.

Then she spotted Xietai on the roof of a run-down theater, standing next to the marquee with its hundreds of broken bulbs. His aura was blacker than the night sky washed by city lights, and the spidery electric red web of his anger had intensified since she’d wounded him.

This is it.

One of them was going to die.

For a giveaway, I'm offering the first two books in this series, Dark Time and Sacrifice, to get you caught up for the release of Deliverance.The winner can have the paperbacks or ebooks, and the giveaway is open internationally, as all of my giveaways are. (I just sent a book to Malaysia, what fun!) Leave a comment below to enter the giveaway. The last day to enter is August 2, 2011. If you include your (disguised) email, I'll contact you if you win the random drawing; otherwise, check back to see the winner's name at the top of this post.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Congratulations to Loretta Broussard of Louisiana for winning the Sexiest Vampire Alive t-shirt and a signed copy of Forbidden Nights with a Vampire!

Please excuse the short post! My book starring Phineas, aka Dr. Phang, is due in four days, and I'm furiously working on it. So instead of thrilling (or boring) you with some brilliantly dull words, I shall tempt you with a fun giveaway. At the RWA conference in NYC, the Avon publicity department gave us authors some cool T-shirts with book covers on them. Mine shows the cover of my upcoming release, Sexiest Vampire Alive (starring Gregori), which goes on sale September 27th. Today, it is up for grabs!! Post a comment about whom you think is the Sexiest Vampire Alive, and a winner will be chosen at random. I'll also throw in a signed book. How about Forbidden Nights with a Vampire? So, one lucky winner gets the signed book and the T-shirt that promotes my next book, Sexiest Vampire Alive! (note how often I use those words, Sexiest Vampire Alive. All part of the evil plan to brainwash you into buying the book when it releases, let me get this in one more time, bwahahaha, September 27th!)

Friday, July 22, 2011

When I think back over all the books I’ve read in my life, none have stuck with me as much as those that I read between the ages of 12 and 17. And I mean that literally. I still have the many of the actual books I read as a teen—not newer replacements.

I’ve taken my books everywhere with me. They’ve been lugged up six floor walk-ups in Manhattan or stuffed into the back of my car as I spent some time driving cross-country, getting hopelessly lost while trying to find myself.

On top of that, I’ve always been a massive sci-fi and fantasy fan. It started with E.T. and Star Wars when I was a little kid, and grew from there. I read the Darkover series by Marion Zimmer Bradley and the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffery when I was a ‘tween and got addicted to world building. I really just wanted to spend all day thinking about what it would be like to be able to make a science out of concentrating psychic energy with a crystal, or how awesome it would be to have a dragon.

And then someone told me that fantasy and sci-fi wasn’t cool.

I can’t remember who it was, or if it was more of a group effort from my friends who sincerely wanted me to avoid getting teased, but I do remember hiding my love of the supernatural somewhere around the time when I learned how to apply eyeliner. It’s a shame, really. I wasted a lot of time reading “serious” books that were cool to brandish in coffee shops and whatnot, but I never really devoured them the way I did, say, The Lord of the Rings.

It took me years to unlearn this baloney.

I write for teens because I became passionate about stories when I was one, and if I get really lucky, I might write something that someone loves enough to drag around the world with them, like I did with Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide series. I write supernatural books because I like to think about what it would feel like to fly, or cast a spell, or telepathically be able to talk to a dragon. (I freaking love dragons, btw)

When I was in high school this made me a geek, but in this day and age, liking supernatural or paranormal books isn’t considered geeky at all. In fact, it’s um… cool.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

At the beginning of this month, the third book in the Dream of Asarlai trilogy, Rogue Gadda, was released. To celebrate, I had some writer friends (including fellow Supernatural Undergrounders Helen Lowe and Kerrelyn Sparks) write a blog for me on Dreams and Fulfilment. You can read them here: http://nicolermurphy.com/blog.aspx

Now, it’s my turn. When I chose that topic for the wonderful ladies and gents to blog on, it came just after a counselling session.

You see, earlier this year, I had two depressive episodes. As a result, I’m now on anti-depressants and been undergoing counselling to learn to deal with life again.

Dreams and fulfilment came up in the counselling process, and I realised that I’d made a dreadful mistake. 30 years ago, thanks to efforts from teacher and class parents, I held the first ever book with my name on it in my hands. As I stared down at that epic tome (I don’t have it anymore unfortunately) a sense of great rightness settled on me and I knew this was what I was meant to do with my life – be a published author.

For a variety of reasons, it took 29 years for it to happen but finally it did – last year, I held Secret Ones in my hand and saw my name emblazoned across the cover. My dream had been fulfilled.

Here’s where I made the dreadful mistake – I didn’t celebrate it properly or say goodbye to it. Sure, I had a book launch. I did a happy dance whenever I got a good review. But my mind was focussed on finalising Rogue Gadda for deadline and finishing the editing process on Power Unbound.

So that momentous achievement, a dream I’d held for the large majority of my life, wasn’t acknowledged. And with that dream stepping aside, I didn’t take time to grab hold of a new dream. It all became nebulous, ungrounded.

What had been a strong platform for me to work off became over time worn away, until by March this year there was just the smallest peak to stand on and with just one blow, I was knocked off.

I’ve spent the past few months re-establishing myself. I’ve forged new dreams, and I’ve educated myself on what is required to make those dreams come true – just as I did with the first dream. Now I’m working toward them and this time, if I achieve them, I will acknowledge and celebrate them.

Chasing dreams is important. Recognising the achievement is also important and so is saying goodbye.

So I wave to 11-year-old Nicole, standing in the middle of the classroom and staring down at her book with such awe. We did it, Kiddo.

Now it’s time to make 41-year-old Nicole’s dreams come true.

What are the dreams that you want to make come true for yourself, and/or the younger you?

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Next Tuesday, His Darkest Salvation, the last book in my Jaguar Warriors trilogy releases and I have to be honest, this morning as I sat to compose this post I had a moment. A wow, I can't believe it moment! You see a few years ago if you'd have told me I'd be writing a series for a major New York publisher I would have thought you crazy.

Don't get me wrong. Storytelling has always been a part of my life whether in words or music, but to actually do it? Nah, I'd never thought I'd pursue it seriously. I mean, what was the point? Thousands of people submit written work every day and thousands get rejected. Did I actually think I'd be one of the ones that wasn't? I think that's the point really. How would I know if I didn't try.

So, when the time was right--the kids were in school full time and my life had settled somewhat--I decided to go for it. I'd been reading a lot of paranormal books, something that was new to me but that I'd really enjoyed. Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lynsay Sands...they'd all created worlds and characters that left me wanting more. That's when I decided if I was going to write a book, it needed to be paranormal romance.

I'd been lurking about online and knew that I'd need to come up with something fresh and I decided shifters were the way to go. Werewolves were already out there but I came across pictures and lore about Jaguars. Aztecs and Mayans oh my! I fell in love instantly.

His Darkest Hunger came to me with an opening scene. My hero--an assasin--about to take out his former lover and the woman he beleived betrayed him. That was it. One opening scene but it started the ball rolling and my Jaguar Warriors were born!

It's been a crazy ride. I've met so many awesome people and am eternally grateful that an agent and editor saw promise in my work.

And now His Darkest Salvtion is releasing, I have a new series starting next year. LIfe is Good!

In honour of my latest release I've got all sorts of good things happening, but first some info about the book!

You can read the first several chapters on line HERE before the book hits the shelves!

In a world on the brink of chaos, passion and vengeance collide …

After six months in hell, Julian Castille has returned to the world a changed man. No longer the calm, powerful CEO, but a shifter fully embraced by the blood of his clan. Julian has one goal: find the key to the portal that stands between the human realm and unprecedented darkness—and win back the pieces of his soul. The last thing he needs is a distraction like the beautiful, enigmatic Jaden DaCosta.

Three years ago, a forbidden night of passion left Jaden forever altered: mated to Julian Castille–bound to a man who despises her. But the temptation to trust this darker, more savage—and more captivating—Julian is overwhelming. And as they fight for their immortal souls, their insatiable desire for each other may prove their fatal undoing…

I've got an amazing contest that is running until next Monday, July 25th. A lot of great prizes each day! Click Here and enter to win!

I'm also doing a blog tour and prizes will be awarded, the deets are HERE

So, long winded post but I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who's helped me get to where I am! You all rock!

This is my first blog on the Supernatural Underground [knees trembling].Because WOW! What a roller-coaster time I’ve had since launching my debut thriller Diamond Eyes a few weeks before Christmas. Thank goodness my editors at HCVoyager have been so supportive or the sequel Hindsight never could have made it through the June launch on time, especially through all the major dramas.

For example: [taking deep breath] Hot on the heels of the launch for Diamond Eyes – and during all the last minute edits for Hindsight – our beautiful Lockyer Valley made world news when it became Ground Zero after a widespread freak storm caused an inland tsunami through the city of Toowoomba, then washed down the mountain and struck the small towns and settlements of Grantham, Withcott and Murphy’s Creek (to name only three that were literally swept off the map that afternoon, and still in the process of being rebuilt/relocated.) The wall of water was 2 stories deep during the worst of it, rose in minutes not hours, and eventually flooded an area over 40,000 square kilometers, with most of our home farm rising just above the edge of the high tide mark. (The planes that floated away at 1:49 and 2:23 minutes HERE are my uncle’s and his neighbour’s.)

Warning: Don’t watch those vids or any that follow on youtube with small children watching. It happened so fast, many of those vehicles and houses had people in them, including too many friends, neighbours and relatives, who lost their lives that day. It’s still too painful to remember in detail. Some washed right out of the hands of their rescuers in our street and district. Some never found. Some found over a 100kms away.

Barely recovering months later… and not just from shellshock, grief and the obvious loss of power, drinking water, communications, roads etc for days and weeks, there were also months of unusual skin complaints and respiratory problems for the whole family (and for pets and surviving livestock etc), which really knocked the wind out of me for getting out to any events for publicity, most of which I couldn’t get to because of flood damage anyway.

But then, just a few weeks before the launch of Hindsight in June, our roller coaster ride rocketed up again with news that Diamond Eyes has won the prestigious 2011 Hemming Award for Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Themes… and won by unanimous vote… YAYY! (And with only minutes to spare, my HC Superhero Editors managed to do a “stop press” for the cover of Hindsight, making it my first book cover to mention a major award win!)

But for each of those wonderful highs, the lows have also been swift to slug us.

We’ve lost my beautiful, loyal cattle dog Riley to cancer, my father’s sight to diabetes, my mother-in-law’s sight to macular degeneration and my own sight has also taken a serious hit (due to an existing condition which inspired the initial idea for Diamond Eyes). My eldest son has survived a serious motorcycle accident. My dad’s had a long string of heart attacks and the combination of everything has pushed the launch date for Leopard Dreaming back six months into next year, and possibly also compromised my ability to stay as a member here in the Supernatural Underground. It’s also my first rescheduled deadline in 10 years and 30 titles under various pennames.

BUT we just start to get back on our feet… SO I book a few flights interstate for major events that I’d been locked into for almost a year – and up goes the volcano in Chile!

My heart goes out to all those who live under the worst of the ash cloud. (And to our friends in Japan who’ve had far more than their own share of problems!) But if we don’t laugh, we’d cry, right? So please excuse my light hearted take on it, in My Heartwarming Week from Hell, an ode to disaster, which I penned while stuck in a Qantas Club lounge, courtesy of their free computers. And thank goodness for them too, because my notebook and laptop both decided to die that trip.

Monday, July 18, 2011

At least, here in Michigan, it's blazing! And what better thing to do in the heat than to read a good book by the water...or in the water.

It's a little harder to read in the water with an e-reader, but I put mine in a Ziploc bag and voila! I can read anywhere, even on the boat.

When I read in the summertime, I go through phases. I start by reading good summertime romances--ones with hot nights and scenes by the campfire or under the moon and stars. Then I get so disgruntled by the heat that I move on to wintry stories--Christmas ones in particular. I figure maybe it'll cool me off if I'm reading about blizzards, etc.

Then at that point, I move on to my comfort reads because I realize that summer's nearly over and I haven't read as many books/relaxed as much as I'd wanted to, and I'd better get working on the relaxing part.

Sometimes I go back and read my old standbys from when I was a child--the Little House on the Prairie books, The Three Investigators, even an old YA romance by Phyllis A. Whitney called Step to the Music. Maybe it's the element of summer that makes me want to revisit old childhood reads.

What about you? Do you have a rhythm or a rhyme or reason for your summer reading? Do you find you actually get any summer reading done, or is it filled with schlepping kids, outdoor activities, and vacations?

Friday, July 15, 2011

Six years ago, when my first novel, The Spell of Rosettewas still an unfinished manuscript, I showed some chapters to an author friend. I felt so nervous, hoping she would love it yet knowing there would be a critique. She’s a Sagittarius—brilliant for sure but she doesn’t pull any punches. She’s also a sensei in the Japanese sword tradition Hokushin Shinoh Ryu Iaido. (I hoped she wouldn’t be using her weapons on the page.) After a few weeks, she came back, ms intact, with one main comment: Brilliant story Kim but you don’t know 'squat' about the sword.

Her response shocked me. I thought I knew plenty about the sword. I’d watched ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ at least ten times and saw Kill Bill on the big screen twice. Could my fight scenes really be that off? She assured me they were. She also invited me to train with her and since then I have had the privilege of learning a most remarkable and deadly art. Iaido (ee-I-doh) is the way of the peaceful warrior, the ancient Japanese art of drawing the sword and cutting in a single movement. Don’t be fooled by word peaceful. It refers only to the warrior’s state of mind. Iaido was created hundreds of years ago for the physical and mental preparation of the Samurai before battle. As a student of this art, I was taught techniques against single and multiple attackers, against spears and armor and horsed opponents. I learned the same traditional ‘wazas’ that have been handed down for centuries by samurai masters.

I now train on my own, usually at the beach though in the beginning I broke more than a lamp or two on rainy days. The cats ran for cover when I got out my Hakama (traditionally clothing) and sword to choreograph scenes for the Enchantment and Encryption Series. Some of my character’s moves are extraordinary, I admit, but I’ve done every one of them myself.

The reward for following the way of the sword, besides a feeling of serenity and power, came when my publisher and I discussed the manuscript for the first time. She said, ‘Kim, your sword fighting is so authentic.’ I beamed! Those years of research really paid off! Some people think you can only write what you know but I say, if you don’t know it, learn!

UPDATE: The winner of Blood of the Wicked is Amy (angeldream3@gmail.com). Thanks everyone for sharing your reading habits and helping me keep the masses straight.

Hi all, Laura, here! Hope your week’s been a great one!

Since returning from RWA ‘11, I’ve set myself a challenge to read a book a week. Yes, on top of the deadline we’re on, and the plotting that needs to be done for the next Dark Breed story, and getting toddlers ready for Pre-K (and preschool), and trying to read over a couple partials and come up with a new plot for an idea that’s rolling around in my head. Okay, I’m not even going to get into all the other distractions that come with being a writer, wife, and mom, ‘cause I’m sure everyone can fill in those blanks and just the thought of all that work has distracted me from my original comment: reading a book a week.

Sure, this shouldn’t be hard, but there are a lot of great books out there and I get easily distracted. So, yeah, I have three books going at one time. Blame it on my lack of focus—did I mention I have five toddlers in the house on any given day?—or that I might suffer from a serious case of adult ADD, but I tend to read according to mood. There’s of course a paranormal in the mix, and a straight romance, and a horror story. They’re all great books and I’m enjoying them all immensely.

So what’s the problem, you might be asking?

Well, simply put, if I’m reading three books at a time, then I haven’t finished a single book this week, which puts me very close to failing in my self-imposed quest. This upsets me because I hate to fail. But no matter how hard I try, or what strong talking to I give myself, I can’t seem to focus on just one book.

That brings me to my question for you: Do you suffer from the multi-book reading problem? No? Either way, share your ideas for keeping focused and finishing whatever you're reading in a reasonable amount of time and you could win an autographed copy of one of the books I’m reading at the moment: Karina Cooper’s Blood of the Wicked.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

You may have heard some of the online chatter about an action-packed, fun-filled, craaazy week in New York City, also known as the 2011 Romance Writers of America conference. It was five full days of mingling, meetings, workshops, sightseeing, eating, drinking and general overall socializing, as well as talking business, business, business. One of my favorite aspects of the conference was that I got to spend some quality time with many of my fellow authors from right here in the Supernatural Underground, from dinners, publishing meetings, book signings, and cocktail parties, so I thought that today, I'd share a few pics of those highlights with you!

The very first night kicked off with a bang, as I joined eight of my fellow HarperCollins authors and blogmates for a wonderful Italian dinner. While there there were lots of pictures taken on lots of different cellphones, I particularly like this one with Colleen Gleason and Vicki Pettersson. (A blonde, a brunette, and a redhead who write books that go bump in the night... what more can I say?) We had a great time sharing our "The first time I read one of your books" moments - yes, we're all fan girls of each other! There with us during dinner were Pamela Palmer, Juliana Stone, Karina Cooper, Amanda Arista, Amanda Alvarez and Amanda Vynes (a/k/a the Three Amandas).

The next morning I joined about 40 of my fellow HarperCollins authors at a "Digital Day" presentation led by Carolyn Pittis, Senior VP of Global Marketing and Operations. We were fed great food and fabulous information regarding recent, sweeping changes within the publishing industry, and what HarperCollins is doing to keep up with them. It was all very interesting and innovative, so much so that if I told you, I'd have to kill you, so I'll just keep those industry secrets to myself! :) Yes, dear readers, in the building behind me is where the magic happens - all those books you know and love, written by the authors of this particular blog, are edited, copyedited, and turned from dreams into reality. It was pretty cool!

After that came sightseeing, and then a quiet meeting with my fabulous editor, Erika Tsang, during which we chatted about life and future story ideas. Erika also edits the fabulous Jeaniene Frost, so if you're a Cat and Bones fan, you need to send her a virtual high five! Here she is on the right with Jeaniene at the Avon Open House book signing.

That night, we all took part in a giant Literacy for Life signing with over 400 authors and hundreds upon hundreds of book lovers at the Marriott Marquis - it was a total mob scene, and tons of fun! Afterward, for a late dinner, I went back to the Italian place (What can I say? I like Italian!) with frabjulous New York Times bestsellers Jeaniene Frost and Pamela Palmer, where we solved the publishing world's problems over pasta and conversation.

On Wednesday, the day was a blur, and before I knew it, it was time to run off and get ready for the Avon Cocktail Party at the Central Park Boathouse. It was a beautiful venue in the heart of Central Park, complete with great food, champagne, and great company.

Here I am giggling away on the outside patio with authors Colleen Gleason and Kerrelyn Sparks, along with bookseller extraordinaire, Maureen Downey, who had us in stitches! I met so many people that night that I couldn't begin to list them, but want to say a special thank you to Pam Spengler-Jaffee for organizing such a great evening!

One of the hits of the party were these giant size cover cutouts, where you could stick your head in and become a part of history... check out Pam Palmer as the virgin in Kerrelyn's Vampire and the Virgin cover! :)

The next morning, we were up bright and early for 8:30am workshop on Light vs. Dark Paranormal fiction with fellow authors Karina Cooper, Pam Palmer and Kerry Sparks, where we talked for over an hour about plot, characterization, tone, and setting to a surprisingly large group of aspiring paranormal authors.

We barely had time to put down the microphones before darting down two floors to take part in the Avon Open House signing, where we chatted and signed, then signed some more! More mingling, lunch, lots of books and lots of laughing.

Then, that evening, the conference culminated in the glittering RITA and Golden Heart Award dinner and ceremony. (I don't normally post pictures of my husband, but he looked so handsome that night that I can't resist!) :) Some of my dearest friends were up for Golden Heart necklaces and golden RITA statues, so many that I found it hard to know who to cheer for, as some of them were competing with each other in the same categories! Our emcee for the evening was NYT best-selling author of The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot, who was an absolute riot, and quite glamorous besides!

All in all, it was exhausting, fun, fabulous and already seems too long ago. I can hardly wait for next year's conference in Anaheim, California to do it all again!

And best of all, guess what I came home with? Tons and tons of books! While doing a random check of all my goodies, I discovered a FULL set of the lovely and talented Vicki Pettersson's ZODIAC series (books 3 and 5 are signed), and thought I'd give them away in celebration of the great time I had being with my friends in NY.

How do you get them? Simple - leave me a comment telling me about one of your bffs, and why they're your friend, and you'll be entered in a drawing to win! Winner will be chosen next Friday, July 22nd, by Randomizer.org. Good luck!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

If you follow writers, especially romance writers, you've undoubtedly seen the above acronyms at one time or another. You've heard terms like RITA and Golden Heart, and heard talking about conferences like RWA, RT, and NINC. Since I just returned from RWA last week, I thought I'd post a short primer, in case you still have questions.

RWA -- Romance Writers of America

Although there's been a lot of talk lately about attending RWA, technically what we attended was the RWA annual national convention. RWA itself is an organization, one of the largest, most inclusive, in the publishing industry made up of over 10,000 writers of romantic fiction (both published and unpublished--a tenth of whom don't even live in America) and related industry professionals. It's an extremely well-run entity with a corporate staff in Houston and a board of directors spread out around the country. In addition, it's comprised of over 145 local, on-line, and special interest chapters which are a fabulous way for writers to meet with other writers, to attend craft and business workshops, find critique partners and mentors, and to learn the ins and outs of the publishing business.

Want to know more? Go here: www.rwanational.org

RITA --

The RITA is an award -- the Romance industry's answer to the Oscar or Emmy for the best in published romantic fiction. There are twelve categories and each book entered is judged by at least five published members of RWA. More than a thousand books are judged every year and only twelve RITAs awarded.

Not all books get entered. It's generally up to the author to send in the applications and fees, and not all authors enter. Most, not all, publishers supply the books.

Golden Heart --

This award is the equivalent of the RITA for the unpublished writers and is judged in much the same way--five judges, more if you're one of the finalists. Only the first fifty or so pages are judged in this one, but the book has to be complete and a full version submitted in case one of the final round editor judges wishes to see it. I actually made my first sale as a result of this contest in 2006. My entry, ultimately titled The Dark Gate, was bought by an editor for Harlequin's brand new (at the time) Nocturne line after she judged it in the final round of the Golden Heart.

RT -- Romantic Times

RT started out as a magazine, once upon a time, filled with reviews of romance novels and articles about romance writers. A few years back, they expanded beyond the romance genre and changed the name to RT Book Reviews. In addition, they run an annual reader convention where readers, writers, aspiring cover models, and publishers gather to celebrate their mutual love of books.

NINC -- Novelists, Inc.

NINC is an organization of published authors that cross all genres, not just romance.

PASIC -- Published Author Special Interest Chapter of RWA

FF&P -- the Futuristic, Fantasy & Paranormal chapter of RWA

KOD -- Kiss of Death, the Mystery/Suspense chapter of RWA

This list is by no means complete and only scratches the surface, touching on only that part of publishing that I'm personally involved with - the romance side of things.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Forgive the late post today. I've landed in Vegas for the last three weeks of the never-ending move to Seattle. Ever since I visited the Emerald City in Spring 2010 I've been trying to get myself there. It took another visit, a long stay with the parents, a five-day road trip in which I slept in my car in National Parks, and two weeks on a friend's couch, but I finally have an apartment.

After signing my lease (literally hours later) I headed to the East Coast for a library visit, a writer's conference, and a visit with a very dear cousin. Then I headed to Houston for the debut signing for Fins Are Forever at my favorite home bookstore, Blue Willow.

Now I'm in Vegas to visit with the parents, catch up on emails, get some work done, and hopefully see some shows and spend many hours in the pool since I know it will be a cold day in Hades when I get a good tan in Seattle. When I leave Vegas at the end of the month, my stuff, my dog and I will make our way up to our new home.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

CONTEST WINNERS:Thanks to everyone who participated in our New Release Round-Up and Giveaway! Here are the winners (drum roll, please...)

Tiffany Drew won Prize Package 1.

Paris won Prize Package 2.

Thanks again and I will be contacting the winners today.Please note: If we are unable to contact either of these people, different winners will be selected at the end of three days.

ORIGINAL POST:Summer is in full swing and it’s the perfect time to curl up in a lounge chair with a great book. So, we wanted to let you know about some of our new releases—fun stuff from authors Amanda Arista, Karina Cooper, Leah Cypess, Merrie Destefano, Jocelynn Drake and Nicole Murphy. Covers and descriptions of their newest books are below.

However, on top of that, all of us here at the Supernatural Underground wanted to say thank you for being such loyal blog followers. We really appreciate you! So, after you read through some of the amazing new books that HarperCollins published in the last month or so, check out our amazing SUPERNATURAL GIVEAWAY at the end of this blog post.

NEW RELEASES:

DIARIES OF AN URBAN PANTHER by Amanda AristaViolet Jordan thought the fairy tales her mother wove were just a way to get Violet to sleep, not a way to prepare her for the apocalypse she is the key to preventing. When she becomes a midnight snack for werepanther Spencer Haverty, his infectious bite invokes the first element of her destiny. When Violet’s budding instincts allow her to save a boy’s life, she realizes this new gig may come with perks: a slimmer figure, the attention of a handsome Guardian, and insights into her future embedded in her mother’s stories. But as push comes to claws, can Violet make the fatal strike against the men threatening her new family, her new home and her first boyfriend in ages?

LURE OF THE WICKED by Karina CooperNaomi West was plucked from one prison and placed undercover in another: the gilded cage that is Timeless, New Seattle's premier spa and resort, where owner Phinneas Clarke—the most seductive man Naomi has ever met—may be hiding a killer. She's an agent of the Holy Order, trained to hunt the guilty and render justice. But while she's tracking down a rogue agent on a killing spree, Phin is determined to uncover her most damning—and dangerous—secrets. Whatever the cost.

NIGHTSPELL by Leah CypessDESCRIPTION: In this haunted kingdom, ghosts linger—not just in the deepest forests or the darkest caverns, but alongside the living, as part of a twisted palace court that revels all night and sleeps through the daylight hours.

Darri's sister was trapped in this place of fear and shadows as a child. And now Darri has a chance to save her sister . . . if she agrees to a betrothal with the prince of the dead. But nothing is simple in this eerie kingdom—not her sister, who has changed beyond recognition; not her plan, which will be thrown off track almost at once; and not the undead prince, who seems more alive than anyoneelse.

In a court seething with the desire for vengeance, Darri holds the key to the balance between life and death. Can her warrior heart withstand the most wrenching choice of all?

FEAST: HARVEST OF DREAMS by Merrie DestefanoHalloween is a bad time to return to the woods . . .

Madeline MacFaddin ("Mad Mac" to fans of her bestselling magical stories) spent blissful childhood summers in Ticonderoga Falls. And this is where she wants to be now that her adult life is falling apart. The dense surrounding forest holds many memories, some joyous, some tantalizingly only half-remembered. And she's always believed there was something living in these wooded hills.

But Maddie doesn't remember the dark parts—and knows nothing of the mountain legend that holds the area's terrified residents captive. She has no recollection of Ash, the strange and magnificent creature who once saved her life as a child, even though it is the destiny of his kind to prey upon humanity. And soon it will be the harvest . . . the time to feast.

Once again Maddie's dreams—and her soul—are in grave danger. But magic runs deep during harvest. Even a spinner of enchanted tales has wondrous powers of her own . . .

BURN THE NIGHT by Jocelynn DrakeDESCRIPTION: The Great Awakening approaches . . .After eons in exile, the naturi have broken their chains and now roam the Earth bent on revenge. It is the sworn duty of Mira, the Fire Starter, to protect the nightwalker race—though even she may be powerless to withstand the horrific onslaught. As Mira and her brave lover, the vampire slayer Danaus, stand ready to do battle, thousands of winged shapeshifters darken the skies. The war of ultimate extermination has begun, and the battleground is Mira's home turf.

The humans don't yet recognize the doom descending upon them. And the nightwalkers will surely perish unless they unite with outcast naturi who claim to want peace. But these unexpected "allies" are the same demons who have long worked for Mira's destruction—and in these darkest of days the lines between friend and foe will blur treacherously before the bloody end of all things.

ROGUE GADDA by Nicole MurphyHampton Rourke has always lived under his father's shadow, and he's not convinced he's the right man to be leading the search for Asarlai and the Forbidden Texts. When the clues lead to Boston and he stumbles upon one of the fabled lost families, Hampton faces challenges that will test his faith in himself. Charlotte Haraldson has been taught to hate the bardria, so it stinks that the man of her dreams isn't just from Sclossin but is the most powerful of them all. Then she learns that everything she's been taught is lies and she has to find new meaning for her and the gadda. With Asarlai setting loose one of the most dangerous gadda who had ever lived and then gaining a powerful ally, the pressure builds to stop her and retrieve the texts before she can finalize her terrible plan and change the world forever.

---------------------------------------------------Remember when I said we had an amazing SUPERNATURAL CONTEST here today? Well, here it is. We’re giving away two prize packages, each containing at least 12 NEW BOOKS written by Supernatural Underground authors. (Is that fab, or what?) These are all the newest releases by the authors listed below. Take a look at the prize packages…

I don’t know about you, but I would LOVE to have either one of those prize packages. The contest rules for these prizes is below and HAPPY READING to all of you!!

CONTEST RULES:

So here’s our question for you: How do you usually hear about the books you want to read? Do you read about them online or do you stumble upon them in the bookstore or does your best friend tell you about them? We’d love to hear what you have to say!

We’re going to give away Prize Package One to one reader and Prize Package Two to another reader, both of whom will be chosen through Random.org.

To enter to win, please post a comment below.

You can earn points by:

+1 Posting in the comments section +1 Linking to this post on Twitter+1 Linking to this post on Facebook+1 Linking to this post on your own blog/website

NOTE: YOU MUST POST YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS TO QUALIFY FOR THIS CONTEST.

Post the total number of points that you’ve earned in your comment. Contest runs through midnight Friday, July 15. Winners will be announced in this post next Saturday, July 16. Please note that if we don’t hear from the winners within 3 days after the contest closes, we will select new winners.

Friday, July 8, 2011

hiya undies!you may or may not remember froma few months back that malinda lo (Ashand Huntress) and i went on a five city stopdiversity tour. it was a lot of fun and we thoughtit was a success, helping to generate someinteresting discussions and dialogue.

our next big endeavor is the summer readingchallenge for librarians and bloggers. a librariancan win over fifty middle grade and young adultnovels for her/his library and a book blogger canwin it all for him/herself! for those of you who havelove for young adult or middle grade novels or havetweens teens, you really have to check these prizesout! to enter as a blogger, you simply need toread some diverse MG or YA novels then write an(at least 500 word) essay about your thoughts andexperience. the winning essay will win the grandprize! malinda and i hope it's a fun experience thathelps to broaden every participant's reading list!

bringing up diversity with readers is alwaysinteresting (and often can be awkward or tense).in the case of our endeavor, we're hoping tospotlight and showcase books that feature lgbtand/or people of color as main protagonists orsecondary characters who play a major role.often, readers will say, a good story is a good story.what does it matter if the character is gay or ofa certain race? it doesn't matter to me!

then others may pause to think of the last timethey actually read a novel that featured sidecharacters that weren't straight and/or caucasian(much less the lead protagonists), and realize thatin fact, they can't think of an example.

see. that was me as a young reader.traditional fantasy had always been a favoritegenre of mine, and like so many teens, i leapedstraight from mainly middle grade books (the youngadult market wasn't as huge as it is now) into theadult fantasy shelves. and it wasn't until i wasan adult and wrote Silver Phoenix that i realizeddespite the dozens of novels i've read and loved,i had never read a character in any of those booksthat looked like me.

of course, as dramatic as i can be (hell, i ama writer after all =), i can't say that i'm scarredfor life because of this. obviously, i was a booklover, read widely, and went on to write as a tweeninto my twenties. but it wasn't until Silver Phoenix(written in my thirties) that i created my first fullyasian character with ai ling!

and if how a character looks like, what her culturalbackground may be, what his sexual orientationmay be, if none of this truly matters... if a good storytrumps all. then why is it that we aren't reading morestories with more diverse characters in them?shouldn't stories be more reflective of the currentworld that we live in?

and that's why malinda and i created this challenge!for full details, click here. and i promise, the bookprizes are out of this world and the different typesof stories and genres abound!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

[REVISED: The winner of the Burn the Night contest is: Heatwave16. Please contact me at Jocelynn DOT drake AT gmail DOT com so you can collect your prize]

The roof the roof the roof is on fireWe don't need no water let the **** burn~"The Roof Is On Fire" -- Bloodhound Gang

This fire is out of control,I'm gonna burn this city,Burn this city...~"This Fire" -- Franz Ferdinand

Something inside of meHas opened up its eyesWhy did you put it there?Did you not realizeSomething inside of meIt screams the loudest soundSometimes I think I couldI'm gonna burn this whole world down~"Burn" -- Nine Inch Nails

The final book in the Dark Days series, Burn the Night, has finally hit the shelves. Mira and I are ready to sit back with a Martguerita (a Bloody Mary in her case) and watch the world burn. Mira and Danaus have risked their necks on a number occasions during the past several years to satisfy my curiosity and now they are ready to kick back in a well-deserved retirement.

When I started writing so many years ago, I focused on writing only stand-alone novels, where you only saw the same characters through a single book and then moved on to a new set of characters and world with the next book. I thought a series only appeared in fantasy novel with dragons and warlocks. And then I discovered the wonderful world of the paranormal with Anne Rice. She introduced me to a world where the same characters appear over several books in a contemporary setting. This was genius! You could see the evolution of a character over several books, put them through one trial after another, pitting them against dark moral dilemmas.

I never expected to fall in love.

Now, I had always cared about my characters when I was writing, but things changed when I started working with Mira and friends. Even when I was away from the computer, I could feel them following me through my day. I could hear Mira's sarcasm in my head, see Danaus's knowing smirk, and feel the heat of Rowe's narrowed gaze. I spent close to seven years working on the books in the Dark Days series so they were almost constantly in my thoughts. I cheered at their triumphs and I cried when some dear died.

Am I insane?

Oh, I freely admit that I am quite mad at this point. Mad as the Hatter and the March Hare. But then, that's just the way of things.

Yet, here at the end of all things, with the world burning down around us, I have to say that I would do it all over again, but I would add more heat.

Have you started the Dark Days series yet?The Dark Days series follows an outcast vampire with a fiery temper to match her ability to manipulate fire as she is forced to team with a vampire hunter as they attempt to stop a dark race from attempting to destroy mankind. At every turn, Mira is faced with betrayal and danger, forcing her to trust the most unlikely of all companions. Danaus is a vampire hunter with a tragic secret that he has carried with him for nearly two thousand years. What drives him out every night to risk his life against the most dangerous of all predators?

Also, there is a prequel story in the Unbound anthology. In addition, another prequel novella is set to be released this fall in e-book form, featuring a closer look at Mira's relationship with her old lover, Valerio.

Here's a quick contest! Tell me who your favorite vampire is in the comments to enter to win a signed copy of Burn the Night! I'll announce a winner Friday night. (Contest open to US and international readers) And come back on Saturday. A little birdie told me there's going to be another awesome contest.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The winner of the Nightspell giveaway is Ilona, whose favorite ghost book is The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde. Congratulations, and thank you everyone else for entering!

Almost exactly a month ago, my second book, Nightspell, was released. It’s a stand-alone companion novel to my first book, Mistwood, with one cross-over character. Since the book has now been out for a month, I can even tell you who that cross-over character is: Clarisse. Rokan’s manipulative, scheming sister is back… and this time she’s in a kingdom where the dead and living co-exist uneasily, and where the arrival of a determined barbarian princess is about to change everything.

You can read the first three chapters of Nightspell at the HarperCollins website. Or, if you don’t feel like clicking, here’s the very beginning:

Darri didn’t see the ghost until he was upon her, a solid weight that dropped from the branches above and threw her sideways off the saddle. Because he was solid, she didn’t realize at first that he was dead. She hit the ground with a thud and rolled to her feet, pulling her dagger from her boot. By the time she was standing, she had already thrown it.

The dagger plunged into the man’s chest with a thunk, and he laughed at her. He was a large, ruddy man wearing a fine set of riding clothes and a short cape. As he laughed, his body slowly faded, so that even in the torchlight Darri could see the trees through him. Her dagger dropped straight down through his body and disappeared into the dark mass of ferns that covered the forest floor.

And of course, there’s a giveaway: I’m giving away a personalized signed copy of Nightspell. For a chance to win, post a comment on the thread and mention a ghost book you really enjoyed – whether from your childhood or more recently.

Contest ends on Sunday, July 10, at midnight. I will randomly select one winner and post their name at the top of this post – and if you leave an email address in your comment, I’ll notify you by email as well. Open internationally.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

No need for confusion or panic. A hacker has not taken over the Supernatural Underground blog- just a newbie. I'll be possessing the feed on the 3rd of every month, hopefully providing a very fresh take on all things writing, publishing, and things that go bump in the night.

My debut novel, Diaries of an Urban Panther, comes our July 5th. So when I say I'm new to this, I'm not lying. Like straight from the fridge and into the fire.

New to paranormal though? No way! I've marinated my brain in all things PNR for the past hhummph number of years. So when I got the e-mail from Pamela Palmer to join the group, i shrieked so loud I scared my co-workers (which, frankly, isn't a new thing). I mean, come on. Palmer? Garey? Sparks? I supposed that i would only be appropriate to say that i devoured their books when researching Diaries. But being upon their ranks now is just the cherry on the top of the contract.

Romance Writers of America 2011 provided me an opportunity to meet the wonderful ladies of the Supernatural Underground. All of them were so welcoming, even when I fan-girled my foot into my mouth (there's a reason I'm a writer and not a public speaker). Juliana Stone has already declared a shifter showdown between her jaguars and my panthers.

Okay- enough with the gushing and the name dropping. This blog is about paranormal romance, not my complete adoration for my fellow bloggers. I just want you to know that as well as being a writer, I'm a fan of the genre.

More about me? Well, I've been writing since about third grade and I finished my first full length novel at 17, which is just too angsty to ever see the light of day. Through college and now the full time day job, I daydream about epic wars and secret magical conspiracies. Mostly, I write shapeshifters. Well, shapeshifters and fairies. Okay, shapeshifters, fairies, and demons. Frankly, it's all in there somewhere and if its not in Diaries, it will probably end up on the menu sometime soon.

As you can see, fresh back from RWA and excited about my launch on Tuesday, I need to get my thoughts together, focus on finishing the second in the series, and probably do some laundry. But I promise to think of something a little more substantial for you guys to sink your teeth into next month.

Friday, July 1, 2011

An Award for The Heir of Night:Last month I was running to stand still, getting organized to attend Natcon and pushing hard to finish The Gathering of the Lost (The Wall of Night series, Book Two.) In the meantime I’ve run like crazy—made it to the convention and best of all, The Heir of Night won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel 2011 (jointly with Lyn McConchie's The Questing Road; Tor)—how awesome is that? I have to tell you that I was absolutely over the moon and my NZ publicist, the wonderful Karen, bought champagne, so it was a sparkling evening all around! If you want to read more, I did a post about the whole evening on my blog, here.

More Earthquakes:

Immediately afterward, of course, I had those winged shoes on again and was back in the writer’s study and working hard to meet the 1 July deadline for final delivery of The Gathering of the Lost. Things were running tight, I thought, but should be do-able—and then on Monday June 13, Christchurch (the city where I live in New Zealand) was rocked by two further major earthquakes: a 5.7 followed an hour later by a 6.3. Given the nature of the subsoil here we immediately got what is called “liquefaction”—liquified sand and water pushed out of the ground to flow everywhere and settle as a grey sludge. But not, I hasten to add, inside our house as happened to some: we only got it outside. (May I say: phew!)

Nonetheless, it still needed to be dug out—and I was close to despair as I wondered how I could possibly do the necessary digging and finish Gathering. My man said that he would take care of it and I knew he meant it, but this really is not a 1 person job: it’s definitely a case of two being both company and lightening the burden of work to be done. So I knew I really couldn’t just leave him to it—but in the end, I didn’t have to. Over a period of four days, a number of different friends turned up to help out. “You finish the book,” they said. “We’ll do the digging out.” And they did—in the wintry rain, as well, some of that time.

Needless to say, all their names will be in the Acknowledgements section of Gathering when it is published in March next year, but I would just like to list them all here, anyway: Andrew (that’s my guy); Joffre; Dave; Caroline; Susi; Peter; Fitz; Ram; Shane; and Chris. I said it to their faces a couple of weeks ago but now I’m saying it again here: guys, you rock! And without you, I would not have met my deadline for the book.

Delivering The Gathering of the Lost:Which I have now done: hurrah! Woot!! Handsprings & cartwheels!!! Getting to that final line is just the best feeling—not just because you’re done, and in my case done with a day to spare (hurrah again!)—but also because I now feel that I have written the book I wanted to. The Gathering of the Lost is my third novel, but the second in The Wall of Night series and as such it needed to expand the story begun in The Heir of Night and take it new places. This expansion includes the characters as well—I felt they needed to develop and grow, but also be poised on the edge of that next stage in the adventure, which will unfold in the third-in-series (working title: Daughter of Blood.) I felt, when I put away my pen (I jot long hand notes as I type) and closed the laptop yesterday, that I had completed a book that delivered on all those objectives. Dear readers: I felt satisfied. And although this is no guarantee that you will feel similarly satisfied next March, I believe it considerably enhances the chances of this being so. [Grins.] So yes, a feeling of a job well done, and now a little playing catch-up, a little r’n’r—and then onward, to Daughter of Blood.

1 Year On:And then I realized, as I sat down to do this post—fingers flyin’ over the keyboard yet again!—that it is exactly 1 year today since I posted my inaugural blog on the Supernatural Underground. How cool is that?! I have really enjoyed this past year, getting together with you all on the first day of every month and talkin’ about what we all love: fantastic stories, the writing & reading life—and definitely having a spot of fun along the way. Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to more of the same over the next year, but in the meantime, may I say—you are all awesome and it’s a pleasure to spend time with you here!

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Supernatural Underground author Helen Lowe is a novelist, poet and interviewer. Her latest novel, The Heir of Night, the first of THE WALL OF NIGHT quartet, is published in the USA, UK, Australia & NZ and forthcoming in The Netherlands and France. The Heir of Night recently won the Sir Julius Vogel Award 2011 for Best Novel, and received a Catanetwork Reviewers’ Choice Award in 2010. Helen’s first novel, Thornspell, (Knopf, 2008) won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel, Young Adult 2009 and was a Storylines Children’s Literature Trust Notable Book in the sme year. Helen blogs every day on her Helen Lowe on Anything, Really site and on the first day of every month right here on the Supernatural Underground.